Khan v McCloskey Preview/Predictions

Does anyone else feel that Paul McCloskey is being overlooked here a bit too much in this fight?

In the bookies hes about anywhere from 6/1 to 9/1. This is longer than Harrison was against Haye to put some perspective on it. I think McCloskey is far closer to Khan in talent than Harrison was to Haye.

Having said that, when you have a fighter like McCloskey thats stepping up a level, there is bound to be plenty of unknown quantities. I actually have been impressed with him and am somewhat surprised there hasnt been a bit more enthusiasm over him. Maybe its his age but I consider him far more talented than the Murrays, Macklins, Hattons etc that seem get much more of a following.

Hes a southpaw, but his style reminds me of Mayweather in some ways and his punching arsenal has shades of Hamed in it (albeit with less power). Hes got great upper body movement that rolls and slips and is very elusive and hard to hit. Hes got good speed (hands) and movement (footspeed). And he has a wide range of punches many of which can be unorthodox and come from any angle. Even more impressive is that such is McCloskey fluid defence, like Mayweather (an unlike Khan), he can get punches off while on the defensive because his defence relies on upperbody movement which keeps his hands free. The drawback is, obviously, that hes at more risk of being caught. Whats holding him back is the level of competition hes faced which makes it hard to determine and even harder to say how he handles a step up.

I actually think McCloskey is potentially a more well rounded fighter than Khan. This is controversial but for me Khan is almost exclusively an ambush style hit and run fighter. At close quarters I think McCloskey will have an advantage and his fluid defensive style will allow him to get shots off better than Khans high guard. This is an underated advantage I think because McCloskey is capable of countering you from and angle when you least expect it and think hes on the back foot. Khan on the other hand is heavily dependant on certian things like controlling distance and range. When that taken away, he struggles. Hes a fighter that like to be in control of pace and distance and when he is, he looks fantasti, when he isnt, he looks vunerable. Khan also seems to be a fighter that starts off well and more aggressive but becomes increasingly more wary as a fight goes on. I think his best rounds will be early but the more of a foothold his opponent can establish, the more Khan backs off and tries to protect his lead. I think its important for McCloskey not to be overwhelmed early.

At this point I would say I have number of concerns from a McCloskey point of view which may well be determining factors. Essentially these are size and power. For the upset to happen I think its dependant on how significant Khans size and power are. He holds advantages in both but I dont see it being a problem as long as long as its not too big an advantage. In this sense Im not sure about McCloskey coping ability. I think Khan will be the biggest hitter hes faced. If he finds himself too badly outgunned then all his other tools become irrelevant and he finds himself in Malignaggi territory or even Salita territory. We dont really have any indication as to his chin and power at this kind of level.

Tactically I have no idea how McCloskey intends to approach this fight. I think Khan is predictable and as I said above hes a fighter that looks pretty average when not in his comfort zone. McCloskey may feel hes got the skills, speed or power to trouble Khan and one of his advantages is that hes a capable fighter. By this I mean I think hes able to fight well against various style and adapt if neccessary. However its essential he establishes a foothold in the fight and tries to make it on his terms. Hes a natural counter puncher and not so much a pressure fighter (which many believe is the best way to beat Khan). I think it depends what range the fight takes place at as to how successful McCloskey is. I think it would be a mistake to try and let Khan box his fight and attempt to counter him at his own ambushing game. For me, I think he needs to make Khan uncomfortable and not rely on purely outboxing Khan. I think McCloskeys best bet is to fight out of the pocket at medium to short range. I also think he has the speed to do it. Khan probably holds the advantage in speed of foot and hand but his high gaurd in comparison to McCloskeys low hands, swiveling style means that theres every chance McCloskey can get his punches off quicker and counter effectively. This works best in the pocket where Khan is "in between" his ambush attack. If McCloskey can keep this range then I think he can cause Khan all sorts of problems as Khan will find himself in no mans land. Even fighting off the ropes occasionally to lure Khan in looking for the counters could work in moderation.

In short, I think if McCloskey is capable of raising the kind of style and skills he has displayed at Euro level up to world level then he can cause Khan to have a very tough night. However its very much an if. I have concerns over McCloskeys power and strength at world class level. Khans preparation has not been ideal and he will have the old chestnuts of taking a fight lightly and pressure to perform as heavy favourite to deal with.

McCloskey is full of flaws, and I'm surprised to hear you call him elusive. Leaves himself ever so open when he throws because of the nature of his punching and his low guard. Gets wild on offense and often leaves himself without a firm base when he punches so would be easy to counter. If you are going up against someone as quick as Khan with that guard and with his reach advantage you better either have incredible reflexes, excellent ring generalship, or be able to take him out of his comfort zone. He's got akward angles and a good punch, but as an outside fighter I don't think he can do this. He has fair timing, but will that work when he steps up a level and against someone with blinding handspeed?

Maidana was the worst possible opponent for Khan. He looked bad but it was largely due to the style clash, Maidana was able to eat punches, stop Khan controlling range and rough him up on the inside, exposing weaknesses he hadn't been previously exposed to, like the uppercuts. This fight is won by controlling range and I think Khan may have some shaky parts but ultimately he has enough power to keep McCloskey rushing him too much.

I think Khan will win big, and early. The last few fights I saw McCloskey in I wasn't impressed - he definitely didn't look as good at EU level (well, continental level, the Lauri and that Spanish dude were barely EU level) as he did at British level.

Khan is technically too good, won't let McCloskey land anything decent and just control him with his jab and speed before closing the show.

So expect a McCloskey KO2 win!

Khan basically trades on his height and his jab...Take those two things away and you've got an ordinary fighter with ordinary tools who is accident prone..

Sure Prescott could punch but Khan didn't know how to deal wth a guy who was taller than him and who outreached him....Couldn't take his usual liberties.

However mccloskey albeit a good technician hasn't got those two big advantages Prescott had....height and reach

Credit Khan for taking the fight as mcloskey is worthy.. but

Khan by late stoppage..wide decision.

Scottrf wrote:McCloskey is full of flaws, and I'm surprised to hear you call him elusive. Leaves himself ever so open when he throws because of the nature of his punching and his low guard. Gets wild on offense and often leaves himself without a firm base when he punches so would be easy to counter. If you are going up against someone as quick as Khan with that guard and with his reach advantage you better either have incredible reflexes, excellent ring generalship, or be able to take him out of his comfort zone. He's got akward angles and a good punch, but as an outside fighter I don't think he can do this. He has fair timing, but will that work when he steps up a level and against someone with blinding handspeed?

Maidana was the worst possible opponent for Khan. He looked bad but it was largely due to the style clash, Maidana was able to eat punches, stop Khan controlling range and rough him up on the inside, exposing weaknesses he hadn't been previously exposed to, like the uppercuts. This fight is won by controlling range and I think Khan may have some shaky parts but ultimately he has enough power to keep McCloskey rushing him too much.

There are pros and cons to the low hand defence. I think McCloskeys upper body movement is good enough and the trade off that allows him to counter quicklly from all angles works well for him. When any fighter keeps their hands low then they are generally accused of being open and easy to hit but I think McCloskeys upper body movement means he can roll and slip the worst. Obviously Khan will be a bigger test of course.

However I dont think Khan is the kind of counter puncher to exploit this. He doesnt like being in close and when he is hes got the earmuffs the ear muffs on. He doesnt look to counter on the inside either. He concentrated on getting his own shots off and getting out of there rather than staying close and looking to pick off. If McCloskey were up against a Marquez or a Martinez style fighter then this could be fatal but I actually think it suits him against Khan provided he can stay in the pocket or up close and look to counter Khan from that kind of distance.

Khan will fance his chances with his power and handspeed against McCloskeys open defence but I think he will look to do it in his usual hit and run kind of way. I dont think he has style to stand in front of McCloskey and counter him the way someone like JMM can.

At odds of 9/1 i think its well worth a shout. Personally i would still put Khan firmly in the driving seat for this one, but an upset isnt something id write off. It just goes to show all the talk that audley did for the haye fight gave him better odds when he should have been more like 100/1

DoubleD is right like Tommy Hearns there is always a chance.......

I don't equate holding hands high to having a good defense, and pointed that out about Abraham when he was being raved about. But he ships more than he should and I expect Khan will show this up. Hope Khan has worked on his short punching as that's where a lot of the counterpunching will be. Otherwise, sitting off and using his attributes will probably be enough. I see it stylistically similar to the Malignaggi fight, but with the added danger that McCloskey can punch, and moves more. Although his movement is often sloppy and leaves him off balance.

Khan will totally outbox him and stop him in the middle rounds.

McCloskey is a decent domestic operator, nothing more. There are flaws in Khan's style and he needs to work on them; but this opponent is nowhere near in the class needed to expose them.

I don't think Khan, despite his speed; has a particularly good defense. He is quite easy to hit with an uppercut and a looping right hand. And he doesn't tie fighters up enough when they get inside.

But McCloskey will not expose these flaws. The talent/athleticism disparity is simply too great.

The one thing that plays on my mind is Khan is and probably always will be prone to making silly errors. Or not fully sticking to a gameplan even when it is working out for him! I just think in this fight theyre will be a stage where Khan is in a little trouble. The question is wether Mckloskey is good enough to take his chance should it come.

I suspect Khan will win also and perhaps Im not giving him enough credit for his short boxing. Its just after watching how easily Morales was able to catch Maidana fighting up close it really highlighted the lack of profiency Khan has in this regard.

However theres the distinct possibilty he was just too afraid of Maidanas power and didnt want to take risks. The lighter punching McCloskey may give him more of an opportnity to display his skills fighting up close, especially given he has great handspeed.

There are too many if and buts with McCloskey as he is unproven at world stage to back him with any real authority but I think to have him at 9/1 is underrating McCloskey.

I certainly think that McCloskey has the style to beat Khan, but like many on this board I don't think he has the world-level physical attributes or tight technique to pull it off. He seems a bit like a rudey poo Mayweather. If you're going to fight in that lateral movement/low hands/counter punching style against someone as quick as Amir Khan then you better be really good at it. I'm not sure McCloskey is quite good enough.

McCloskey I just too open, cant see how he will cope with Khans speed. If he cant it may well be a 3 round fight.

Here's a good article on McCloskey's chances
http://www.boxing-articles.com/what-chance-does-mccloskey-have-against-khan/

J-Hop wrote:
McCloskey I just too open, cant see how he will cope with Khans speed. If he cant it may well be a 3 round fight.

Here's a good article on McCloskey's chances
http://www.boxing-articles.com/what-chance-does-mccloskey-have-against-khan/

Im not sure McCloskey being a southpaw is all that relevant. Im sure Khans getting some decent sparring in that regard......

3-5 rounds. That's all.

I dont think McCloskey is being overlooked, I think he's a decent euro level fighter but not on Khans level. Khan holds the advantages in every area near enough - height, reach, speed, size, world level experience, coaching levels. McCloskey is a southpaw and fairly elusive which will work in his favour in terms of not getting blown away early, but khan will have had quality southpaw sparring so it will only be a matter of time. Khans not a big hitter but he throws punches in bunches at speed and this will do for McCloskey around the 6th or 7th where the ref will save him from one Khan flurry too many, resulting in a Khan TKO win.

Khan by KO in 7.